I know. I was just messing with you. I still have not decided which one of them I prefer to take on next. The Dodgers minus Kershaw and Greinke suck.. and the cards make my stomach turn.. But the Dodgers will not be minus Kershaw and Greinke....so... its tough.

I actually like the later start. I can finish up dinner and put the kids to bed and watch the game in peace.

I'm not worried at all about Gio, I think he'll pitch a gem. But I don't trust our bats at all. Yeah we scored 4 runs yesterday but 2 were off a really fluky error on a bunt. Vogelsong's ERA isn't great but it's always these type of mediocre Ps that completely shut us down.

The advantage of radio - just listen on the bedside radio (I have to get up at 05.15 weekdays myself so this works well for me). Only problem is, one tends to drift off to sleep (especially in my current case with all the meds I'm taking - slept through the Ramos bunt last night).

....

Yeah, falling asleep is the main reason I don't regard the bedroom radio as a serious option (much less the bedroom TV, since we use an antenna on that TV).

There are only 2 guys on our team that I trust to have the mental toughness to pitch in an elimination situation and they have already pitched this series. Fister started out on shaky ground last night and still managed to go 7 scoreless. That takes balls of steel. Gio's are still aluminum. I hope Roark is ready to go because it may be a Gio/Roark tag team match. I dont care what we have to do to stay alive.

And when we get back to Washington please give the ball to JZIMM game 5... please.

There is an ongoing trend thus far in this series, in which the team with the superior starter on the mound has lost each of the past three games. If that trend continues, then the Giants will be uncorking the champagne after a defeat of Gio Gonzalez and the Nats, though PECOTA sees Washington overcoming San Francisco's home field advantage to bring things back to D.C. for a Game Five. Here is a look at the PECOTA odds and projected lineups for Game Four of the NLDS.

Injury/Availability Notes: Pablo Sandoval was banged up via the infamous sacrifice of Game Three that gave the game to the Nats, and it's possible that he comes off the bench rather than play the full game against a southpaw starter. Jeremy Affeldt has appeared in all three games for San Francisco, though he has thrown just 23 pitches over the last four days (including three tosses in Monday's contest), so he is likely available for some LOOGY work at the least. Yusmeiro Petit is probably a non-option after tossing 80 pitches in Saturday's marathon, but Tim Lincecum has yet to be used and could be an emergency replacement if Vogelsong falters. Craig Stammen threw 50 pitches across the first two games, though he should be available for a short outing after two days of rest. Ryan Zimmerman will likely remain in the pinch-hitting role for Game Four, after failing to draw the start against a lefty in Game Three; otherwise the Nats will likely trot out the same imposing lineup that they have used for the first three games of the series.

Outlook

The Giants have a lot of lefties in their typical lineup, but they will likely make a couple of changes versus Gio Gonzalez. Gio has a nearly-even platoon split for his career, and in fact left-handed bats have hit for a bit more power against him, and many of the Giants regulars have fared well against same-sided pitching (including Joe Panik and Brandon Crawford, albeit in small samples). The likely adjustments include a right-handed outfielder in place of Travis Ishikawa and a shuffling of the batting order, allowing the Giants to split up their lefty bats by putting Hunter Pence closer to the top.

Anthony Rendon has been absolutely on fire for the Nationals, both in this series (nearly one-third of the team's hits) and for the season as a whole. A key for the Nats is for Adam LaRoche and Jayson Werth to pick up the slack and make the most of those opportunities when Rendon sets the table – Werth and LaRoche are a combined 2-for-28 with nine strikeouts and three walks in the series. Similar to his rotation-mates, Gonzalez finished the regular season on a tear; the lefty tore through September with a 2.48 ERA and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 31-to-5, including a final start that featured a dozen strikeouts and just three baserunners across seven frames versus the Mets. Pitching has been the cornerstone of the 2014 Nationals, and the Washington faithful have to hope that the first couple of games were more aberration than indication of events to come

Rendon and Harper and Cabrera have done well hitting. We really need the big guys, Werth and LaRoche, to show up tonight - they seem to be pressing too much. If we bring this series back to DC, I think game 5 is ours. I wish it was game time already - this is the slowest day ever!

Rendon and Harper and Cabrera have done well hitting. We really need the big guys, Werth and LaRoche, to show up tonight - they seem to be pressing too much. If we bring this series back to DC, I think game 5 is ours. I wish it was game time already - this is the slowest day ever!